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This resource was reviewed using the Curriki Review rubric and received an overall Curriki Review System rating of 3, as of -0001-11-30.

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This resource received a 3* rating because it is part of Plants and Animals Science Kit, which received a rating of 3-Exemplary in the Curriki Review System and which you can see here: http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Coll_cabocesmst/PlantsandAnimalsScienceKit

Learning Experience
10: Trees

TEACHER’S GUIDE

Objective:
Students will collect data on a tree of their choice and explain how different
types of trees adapt to the winter season.

How do trees adapt to the seasons?

Session 1

Review with students how plants need sunlight to grow from
Learning Experience 10. Ask students to list the signs of winter (trees lose
their leaves, seeds disperse, plants die away). Focus again on the bean plants
and the color of their leaves. (any type of green plant could be used). Introduce
the word chlorophyll to students.

Chlorophyll is the chemical found in plant leaves that make
them green. Plants need sunlight in order to make chlorophyll. Students may
notice that the bean plant that was covered with the bag has leaves that may have yellowed. Relate this to what
happens to the trees in autumn.

Discussion Questions:

Do plants need sunlight?

What happened to the bean plant that did not get sunlight?
(withered, yellowed)

How is it similar to what happens when leaves change color
in the fall? (plants receive less sunlight in the fall – chlorophyll that makes
leaves green breaks down and reveals other colors that are there all year long.)

Read the background information in the Plants and Animals
Science Teacher’s Manual. (Please see PDF)

Basic Skills
Development:

Gathering Data

Observing

Describing

Measuring

Discussing

Evaluation Strategy:

Students will report on the data they collected on their
tree and describe how different trees adapt to the winter season.

Vocabulary:

trunk

chlorophyll

evergreen

oxygen

deciduous

carbon dioxide

bark

adapt

leaf

veins

Set up an activity where a twig from an evergreen is placed
in a 32 oz. deli container filled halfway with soil then add water. Place a
clear plastic bag over the twig and fasten the bag to the container with a
rubberband. Place a similar bag over the bean plant with broad leaves. Over the
next couple of days, observe what happens and discuss results with students.
(If the bean plant is not large enough to release a sufficient amount of water
vapor, another potted broad leaf plant may need to be used.)

Discussion Questions:

What do the leaves appear to be giving off? (water vapor
when it exchanges oxygen for carbon dioxide)

Where is the water coming from? (the stem of the twig is
gathering water from the container delivering it to the leaves)

Where does a tree outside get its water from? (roots in the
ground)

Ask one student to volunteer to pretend they are the roots
of the plant/stem of twig. Give that student a 9 oz. tumbler filled with water
with a straw in it. Ask the student to take a drink from the tumbler.

What happens to the ground in winter? (freezes) Ask the same
student to take a drink from a straw in a tumbler of water that has been placed
in the freezer overnight.

Discuss the differences.

What happens to the water? (freezes)

Could you gather water from the frozen or unfrozen water?
Describe your experience.

Do plants need water to survive? (yes)

If we see the leaves of the tree give off water, why do you
think a tree loses its leaves in the fall? (leaves fall off the tree so the
tree does not lose water so it can survive – adapting to its environment)

Are there trees that do not lose leaves? (evergreens)

Why do you think they do not lose leaves? (the evergreens
release less water from their needles – the needles do not need to fall off)

If the tree (plant) loses its leaves in the winter and the
leaves gather sunlight to make food, how does the tree survive in the winter?
(plants store their food)

How is this similar to animals? (animals store fat for
energy in the winter)

Introduce the word deciduous
to students. Deciduous trees are those trees that have leaves that change color
and fall off the trees in the fall. Compare deciduous to evergreen trees that
keep their leaves (needles) year round. The deciduous tree releases more water
than the evergreen bag. Discuss with students why this could be very harmful
for the tree in the winter (water is not as plentiful). Ask students to then explain
why deciduous trees lose their leaves and evergreens do not. Introduce the word
adapt to students. Deciduous trees
adapt to the winter environments by losing their leaves for survival.

Discussion Questions:

Do you think it is hard for a deciduous to survive during
the winter? Why? Why not?

What happens to the ground in the winter? (freezes)

Can the roots get water easily? (no)

What did we observe is released by the leaves of the plant?

How do other plants adapt in the winter?

How do animals adapt in the winter? (be sure to include
humans in the category of animals)

Students could work in pairs and complete their activity
sheet for Learning Experience 10 in the Plant And Animals Student Activity
Book. (Please see PDF) On these pages are “pages to a book”
on how a plant makes food but loses its leaves in the fall to adapt to the
upcoming winter. Students can draw a picture for each page of their “book.” The
dialogue at the bottom of each page is to be used as a basis for their picture.
This could also be a whole class activity if students are having difficulty
with the illustrations.

Each “page” of the “book” on the activity sheet can be cut
out and pasted on construction paper as a backing. These pages could then be
bound in a book with yarn or tape. The books could be shared among student
groups.

Session 2

Ask each pair of students to choose a tree to observe.
Students can choose a deciduous tree or an evergreen tree. Encourage pairs to
look at the trees close up getting under the last bough by placing a small
mirror flat with one end of the mirror near their nose. They can see the spray
of the tree growing from the trunk. Also, students are to observe the tree from
a distance. They are to look at the top of the tree (head or crown), the middle
(the spray), and the bottom (trunk). Students are to gather data about their
tree and record the data on the activity sheet for Learning Experience 10 in
the Plant And Animals Student Activity Book. (Please see PDF)

Students can then focus in on the leaves of the tree (shape,
edges, color, veins, length, width), the animals that live in/near the tree,
the tree bark, and tree trunk size. All data can be recorded on the activity
sheet for this learning experience.

Discussion Questions:

Describe the shape of your tree?

Where is the stem of the plant? Did you see any roots
showing above ground?

What are the roots used for?

Describe the leaf from your tree?

Is there a part of your tree that has large leaves and
another part that has smaller leaves? Where are the smaller ones located? (In
shady area away from sunlight)

What does the seed of the tree look like? How do you think
it travels?

Do you notice any color change in your leaf?

If so, where does the color change?

What animals live in or around your tree?

What do you think the animals use the tree for? (food,
shelter, home)

Describe the bark of your tree. What do you think the bark’s
function is?

Students can report the data they have gathered on their
tree. Students can observe the tree over time and compare their data. Student
data from different trees can also be compared.

Review with students how trees change throughout the year.
Ask students to draw what their tree would look like in each season of the year
on their activity sheet for Learning Experience 10 in the Plant And Animals
Student Activity Book. (Please see PDF) The evergreens
keep their leaves throughout all the seasons and the deciduous trees do not.

Discussion Questions:

How does your tree change throughout the year?

Why do you think these changes occur?

For the accompanying Plants and Animals Science
Student Activity Book, please refer to the PDF found here. (Please see PDF)